Outdoor bowling alley



Juiy 3,- 1934.

OUTDOOR BOWLING ALLEY Filed July 22, 1.9331- 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor W H Parnell flllomey w. H. PURNELL 1,965,055

July 3, 1934.

w. H. PURNELL ouwboon BOWLING ALLEY Filed July 22, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 msm;

Invcnlor M Parke/f Patented July 3, 1934 OUTDQOR BOWLING ALLEY William Henry Purnell, Ocean City, Md. Application July 22, 1933, Serial No. 681,771

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in bowling alleys and has for its primary object to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, bowling alleys which are adapted for use out of doors, the construction of the alleys being such that they will not be adversely affected by the weather.

Another important object of the invention is to provide bowling alleys of the aforementioned character embodying a novel construction of gutters and ball returns.

Other objects of the invention are to provide outdoor bowling alleys of the aforementioned character which will be simple in construction, strong, durable, attractive in appearance and which may be installed at low cost.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, talcen in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:-

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of an outdoor bowling alley constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a plan View of an intermediate portion of the alley.

Figure 3 is a view in vertical transverse section.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the embodiment of the invention which has been illustrated comprises a ball drive i which may be of any suitable hard weather resisting material, such as concrete, asphalt, stone, slate, etc. Boundary lines 2 are defined on the drive 1 in inwardly spaced parallelism with the longitudinal sides of said drive. A ford line 3 is also provided at one end of the drive 1. The reference numeral 4 designates an area which is used by the players and which is preferably of the same material as the drive 1. At the far end of the drive 1 the usual pit is provided as is also a cushion 5.

Adjacent one of the longitudinal sides of each drive 1, and spaced therefrom, is a series of stakes 6 which are driven into the ground. Rising from the stakes 6 are standards 7 which terrrinate, at their upper ends, in T-heads 8 upon which the ball return members 9 are mounted.

Mounted adjacent the stakes 6 are transverse sleepers 10 upon which spaced, parallel, longitudinally extending strips 11 are mounted. Vertical strips 12 and 13 are mounted on the sides of the stakes l0 and the drive 1 above the strips 11, said strips 11, 12 and 13 defining gutters at the sides of said drive 1. The strips 13 also constitute facings for the longitudinal sides of the drive 1. The spaced strips 11 provide longitudinal drain slots 14 in the gutters, thereby preventing the accumulation of water and other matter in said gutters.

It will thus be seen that an outdoor bowling alley has been provided which will remain smooth and unwarped indefinitely and which will not be otherwise adversely affected by the weather. The alleys may be of regulation length or of any length desired, as will be apparent. The gutters on the other sides of the alleys are substantially similar in construction to those hereinbefore described with the exception that but a single strip 12 is used and mounted on an intermediate horizontal strip 15, the stakes 6 being omitted.

It is believed that the many advantages of a bowling alley constructed in accordance with the present invention will be readily understood, and although the preferred embodiment of the invention is as illustrated and described, it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to which will fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:-

l. A bowling alley structure comprising a pair of spaced, parallel ball drives, a series of stakes between the ball drives, a ball return mounted on the stakes, sleepers extending transversely between the ball drives adjacent the stakes, pairs of spaced, parallel strips mounted horizontally on the sleepers on opposite sides of the stakes, vertical strips mounted on opposite sides of the stakes and engaged on the innermost of the horizontal strips, vertical strips mounted on the opposed longitudinal sides of the ball drives and engaged on the outermost horizontal strips, said strips defining gutters for the reception of balls from the drives, the spaced pairs of horizontal strips defining longitudinal drain slots in the gutters.

2. A bowling alley, in combination with an alley having a ball drive of hard, smooth, weather resisting material, sleepers extending laterally from opposite side edges of said drive, vertical strips applied on the longitudinal sides of the ball drive providing facings for said sides of the drive, spaced parallel horizontal strips mounted on the sleepers on opposite sides of the drive, the innermost of the horizontal strips being engaged with the first named vertical strips, and additional vertical strips mounted on the outermost horizontal strips in parallelism to the first named vertical strips, said strips defining gutters, and the spaces between horizontal strips on each side of the drive defining longitudinal drain slots for the gutters.

WILLIAM HENRY PURNELL. 

